ACE2 Expression Is Increased in the Lungs of Patients With Comorbidities Associated With Severe COVID-19

Overview

Journal J Infect Dis

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2020 Jun 12

PMID 32526012

Citations 235

Authors

Bruna G G Pinto

Antonio E R Oliveira

Youvika Singh

Leandro Jimenez

Andre N A Goncalves

Rodrigo L T Ogava

Rachel Creighton

Jean Pierre Schatzmann Peron

Helder I Nakaya

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Patients who died from COVID-19 often had comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Although angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is crucial for SARS-CoV-2 to bind and enter host cells, no study has systematically assessed the ACE2 expression in the lungs of patients with these diseases. Here, we analyzed over 700 lung transcriptome samples from patients with comorbidities associated with severe COVID-19 and found that ACE2 was highly expressed in these patients compared to control individuals. This finding suggests that patients with such comorbidities may have higher chances of developing severe COVID-19. Correlation and network analyses revealed many potential regulators of ACE2 in the human lung, including genes related to histone modifications, such as HAT1, HDAC2, and KDM5B. Our systems biology approach offers a possible explanation for increased COVID-19 severity in patients with certain comorbidities.

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